On 8 November 2006 the Companies Bill finally became the Companies Act 2006. Eventually the new Act will repeal and replace nearly all of the Companies Act 1985 and:
- simplify the administrative burden on smaller private companies, which make up the vast majority of the corporate population;
- facilitate shareholder engagement, particularly in quoted companies; and
- update and clarify the law in various areas, particularly in relation to directors’ duties.
Only a handful of the Act’s 1,200-odd sections and 16 Schedules came into force at the time of Royal Assent. The Government has said that the remaining parts will all be in force by 1 October 2008.
Please click here to view an article looking at two of the most important parts of the Act which will come into force by 20 January 2007: the provisions relating to takeovers and electronic communications between companies and their shareholders.
For an overview of the whole Act, see our article "The Companies Act 2006: deferred reform", which can be found by clicking Click Here .
Banks and other lenders can find details of those provisions of the Act which will particularly affect them in our article entitled "The Companies Act 2006: issues for lenders", which can be found by clicking Click Here .
This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq
Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.
The original publication date for this article was 29/11/2006.
